Behind the Scenes
by Eric and Derek
Summary: SLASH: Sirius gets the lead part in the school play of Romeo and Juliet, but realises that he knows nothing about how to play Romeo. As Remus helps him with his lines and persona, a new romance develops behind the scenes. Now with strange Peter side story
1. Prologue

A/N: Hi! First Harry Potter fic; what more can I say? Had to be Remus/ Sirius. Just had to. Don't argue! ¬¬ Joking. Feel free to criticise, so long as it's constructively. Hope that you enjoy it! If you don't like slash, it's probably a good idea not to read this… Oh, and any suggestions for improvements to the way I write the characters owuld be really appreciated! I'm not at all sure that I've got them right yet...

_Remus' thoughts. _In later chapters, there might be **Sirius' thoughts**, too.

Prologue:

"I did it! I'm amazing!" Sirius cried, dashing into the common room and 'gracefully' vaulting the sofa to land between Remus and James. They both looked up in surprise (Remus from his book, and James from Lily, who was sitting the other side of the room trying to avoid him). They stared at the dark-haired teen.

"Well, aren't you going to congratulate me?"

"Um, well done, Sirius…"

"Uh, yeah, good one mate… He'll be sorry he messed with you…"

"What? Do you guys pay ANY attention to me? You have NO idea what I'm talking about, do you!" he cried, dramatically.

"Well, it would help if you actually told us the conversation topic to begin with." Remus said, his calm self as usual.

"Yeah, at least give us hints, or small clues… Hey! You could do us a treasure hunt!" James exclaimed, getting more excited by the minute. "Man, treasure hunts are fun!"

"Um, I'll just tell you. I got a part in the school play!"

"Wow, that's great, Sirius!" Remus said, momentarily forgetting his book.

"Yeah, good going, mate!" James agreed, nodding vehemently. "Always said you were a drama queen."

Sirius growled.

James glared.

Remus coughed nervously, before quickly asking, "So, what part did you get?"

"It's Rodeo or something. It's in some Shakespeare thingy."

Remus stared. "You got the part of Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet? Sirius, that's the lead role!"

"Really? COOL!"

James burst out laughing, "So who's Juliet?"

Peter entered the room and sat down on the arm of the sofa,

"I heard that it's that Ravenclaw girl. Tina Farmsby, or whatever her name is."

"Hmm, I think I know her. Not bad, I guess. Could've been far worse, that's for sure!" Sirius pondered aloud.

"Trust you, Sirius. I just wish I could see your face if they chose to do it 'old school' and have the whole cast male!"

James proceeded to have a great deal of fun teasing Sirius, who was turning steadily redder, about 'Romeo and Julian', before Lily stood up and walked out of the common room.

"Now's my chance! Wish me luck… again…"

"Good luck, James, not that it'll help." Sirius teased, eliciting an angry growl from his best friend before he vanished through the portrait hole.

Meanwhile, Remus talked animatedly about the various aspects of Romeo's character, and asked how he planned to portray them, while Peter played gobstones with the first years (who had taken to calling him 'Uncle Pete').

"There's a lot of impulsiveness shown by Romeo. How do you think you'll show that?" Remus asked, eyes ablaze as was always the case when he discussed literature.

Sirius paused a long time, obviously not having a clue about what the amber-eyed boy was talking about. "…I get to play Romeo…"

The werewolf sighed, "Yes, Sirius." Ferocious yells and James' girlish screams were heard from somewhere outside the portrait hole, which he promptly burst through, glasses askew and part of his hair missing, presumed torn out. He had a black eye forming and a nasty cut on his forehead.

"… I think I'm going to get an early night…"

"Good idea." Sirius and Remus said in unison.

James traipsed off to the dormitories, with Peter following like a puppy as always, leaving Remus and Sirius sitting in silence. Sirius, being by nature allergic to such a silence, broke it.

"I'm never going to be able to play Romeo!" he wailed.

"What? I thought you were excited about it?"

"I was, but now that you've asked me all these questions, I realise that I have no idea how Romeo should act, or speak, or- or- _anything_! I have trouble remembering which lesson I have next; how am I going to learn all the lines of the lead role in a play? A _Shakespearean_ play!"

Remus looked at the broken man that was his friend, before sighing. _How do I know that I'm going to regret this? A lot. _"Sirius. Stop panicking. I've read that play so many times I almost know it off by heart. I'll help you learn your lines, and cues. I'll teach you about Romeo's character. You'll be fine, I promise."

"You promise?" Sirius asked, a flicker of hope entering his slate-grey eyes.

"Promise."

"ThankyouThankyouThankyou!" Sirius cried, hugging a startled Remus.

_I'm definitely going to regret this._


	2. One: A Rehersal With Remus

A/N: Thanks for all of the lovely reviews, everyone! I really appreciate it! nn I'd have updated sooner, but I was on holiday and deprived from email and computer access. I now have information-deficit. Argh. I wasn't quite sure how to link in from the last prologue-type chapter, so I hope that this doesn't seem too awkward or disjointed! Constructive criticism welcome as always, just please don't flame for the sake of it, or if you don't like yaoi. Oh, and this will contain Romeo and Juliet spoilers, so if you haven't read the play and don't already know the plot but plan to read it, you may want to stay away. Oh, and thanks to 'Calafornia Smells Funny' for pointing out my various stupid errors, typing slips, and just general mistakes! I've altered it now! Thanks for the great advice! ;)

Disclaimer (haha, winks at _angels-above_): I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters or places therein, fictional or otherwise. All I own is this plot and my shoes.

Chapter One: A Rehearsal With Remus 

"Remus?" Sirius asked, in a sweet, high voice. Remus knew that tone all too well. It meant: 'I can see that you're reading, writing, or doing other Remusey activities, but I need to disturb you to do a favour for me.'

"Yes, Sirius?" he said, cautiously, looking up from his Remusey task (repairing his battered timetable).

"Well, you know you said that you'd help me practice for the play? Would you mind, like, helping me _now_? We've kinda got the first rehearsal tomorrow, and I'm supposed to learn my lines for the first two actions."

Remus smiled, forgetting his timetable. "Do you mean the first two Acts?"

"Yeah! That's the one!" The werewolf grinned at the enthusiastic light behind Sirius' grey eyes.

_I love it when his eyes light up like that. Hang on. I did not think that. No. Well, I might have done. After all, they ARE pretty eyes… _

"Remus? Helloooo?"

"Oh, um, sorry." A blush crept across Remus' pale face.

**Hehe, I love it when he blushes. Hang on. I did not think that. What the hell, why shouldn't I? Why should The Mighty Sirius have to doubt himself?**

"Ok. Before we start on you lines, I'm going to teach you a bit about the terminology." The werewolf began, before being cut off by Sirius' laughter.

"Was it the word 'terminology'?"

"Yeah."

oOo

"Ok. First of all, Shakespearean plays are divided into a number of 'Acts'. These 'Acts' are sub-divided into 'Scenes'. With me?" Remus asked from his comfy chair in the common room. Sirius was trying to find his script.

"Yup, I think so!" came the muffled voice of his friend. "Aha!"

"Good." Remus smiled, as Sirius pulled his already tattered script out of his bag. He proceeded to outline the entire play to Sirius, who almost fell asleep twice.

"Hang on! I die!"

"Yes. It's a very important and moving end."

"But that's not fair! Anyway, I'm the main character! How can I die?"

"Never mind, forget that for now, we need to-"

"AND my character's all weepy and sad."

"First, don't start sentences with 'and', second, he does seem a little sensitive, doesn't he, but it's that that drives him to make rash decisions, such as killing Tybalt in anger; killing Paris; and killing himself in grief… the list goes on."

"Oh. Great. My character's a foppish, homicidal moron."

"Wow, Sirius!" Remus looked like he could hug Sirius. "You actually sounded coherent then!"

"I know; you're rubbing off on me. I need to speak to someone thick, quickly! Peter!"

"What? I'm trying to help these first years play chess, you- you- ugh!"

"Thanks Pete, you may go now."

Remus and Sirius laughed as Peter stormed off back to his First Year-fans.

"You know, they're getting quite attached to him!"

"Yeah, maybe they're, like, his cult followers, or something…"

They mused over this for a while, before beginning to learn lines. Remus offered to read the script up until Sirius' cue to enter, where he would read all of the other characters.

"Hey, Remus?" The dark-haired teen interrupted.

"What?"

"Why is that guy so pissed about some dude biting his thumb?"

"Well, it was considered an insult in those days, kind of like that, erm, gesticulation that you got into to detention for showing to Severus."

"Aaahh. Continue."

Remus read on, smiling.

"Ok, now you've got to come in. See where it says '_Enter_ ROMEO', well, that's your cue to come on stage. You'll have to learn the line that comes before it, 'We would as willingly give cure as know', and listen out for it on stage."

"Got it!" Sirius saluted, and Remus sighed.

_Must he ALWAYS salute! Oh well, it's kinda cute, I guess. Wait! I just thought the word 'kinda'! For shame! For- Wait! I just thought that Sirius was cute! Well, 'kinda' _IS_ worse grammatically…_

It took about an hour for Sirius to learn all of his words for the first two Acts, seeing as he didn't have that much to learn. Both extremely tired, they began to pack away.

"Hey, Remus?"

"Hmm?"

"Is Romeo gay?"

"Um, no, he marries Juliet, remember?"

"I know, but he seems pretty friendly with Ben, don't you think?"

"Benvolio."

"Huh?"

"Benvolio. They shorten the character's names to fit on the script."

"Ah. That explains why they put me as Rom. I thought they wrote it all out wrong!"

They both laughed and began to head down to the great hall for tea.

"So, is he gay?"

"No, Sirius, not to my knowledge."

"Oh. You _sure_?"

"Quite sure."

"What about Mer--"

"No."

"Ok, Tyb-"

"None of the men in the play are gay, already! Think about when the play was set; it would have been considered sacrilege to support homosexuality."

"What about now?"

"Um, well, I suppose there are still people today who think of it as unnatural and disturbing."

"What about you?"

"Err, well, I don't, no."

"Cool. Let's go and get tea; I'm starving, and apparently there's an awesome coffee cake for desert!" Sirius knew coffee cake was Remus' favourite, of course. Well, it _is_ delicious!

Remus grabbed Sirius' wrist without thinking and charged out of the common room dragging him behind. **Bloody hell, this is not happening! He's not thinking straight (hehe); there's coffee cake involved. Why do I wish he did that consciously?**

"Come _on_, Sirius; we're going to miss the _coffee cake!"_

Sirius laughed. "Why is it no matter how much cake, chocolate and sugar you consume, you always stay so thin? Damn your werewolf metabolism!"

They both giggled and ran around a corner, right into Professor Sprout.

"Hi, Miss!" Remus cried, "Can't stop; cake!"

Sirius saluted with his free hand, and was currently dragged off by the hungry werewolf, but the herbology teacher stopped them.

"Now, I've got nothing against it, but you do realise that you're about to run into the Great Hall holding hands, don't you?"

"Oh!" Remus said, realising the implications of the action. _When the hell did I do that! _"We're not holding hands, he was just being slow so I dragged him along. They have coffee cake, you know!" He let go of Sirius hand. _Curses! Now my hand feels cold…_

"Ok, run along then, boys! That cake won't eat itself!"

"See you, Professor!" They both called, and charged off again to eat the precious cake.

oOo

**Part One of Peter and the Peteonites**

**(A Shakespearean styling)**

(Maybe _slightly_ un-serious, and nothing like actual Shakespeare… A kind of side story explaining Peter's little followers. If you think that I should continue with it, please state so. In a review, perhaps? Hint, hint.)

_Enter_ PETER

Pet. "This comfy chair doth soothe my weary bones, that so freshly returned to Hogwarts ache already. How I've missed the quirks and breath-taking delights found in this mighty castle! But alas, what's this? My good friend Remus, and Lily, too, newly made prefects, as the caterpillar morphs gently into the angelic form of a butterfly! Surely they are dutifully guiding the First Years to this proud tower of Gryffindor, for I can hear their crystal voices from yonder, behind the portrait pink! Here, they enter now!"

_Enter _FIRST YEARS, REMUS _and_ LILY.

Rem. "Peter, my old friend! I hope that our long absence from Hogwarts has left you refreshed and ready to learneth even more this year! I will talk further 'pon this matter in the morn, for now I am tired, and weary with much stress.

Lil. "Likewise, I must also retire, for I have many prefect duties to completeth of the morrow."

_Exeunt _REMUS _and _LILY

Pet. "Alack! Left all alone with none but the timid first years! See how they whisper among themselves and point at me! It's almost as if they are in awe of my presence! I shall sit here and cleanse my ear with one finger to try and hide my discomfort at this sudden attention."

Aside, in a small huddle 

First Year. Graham. "See his grace and power? We must surely have him as our noble leader, but who shall approach him with this heavy proposition?"

F.Y. Sally. "As t'was thyself that suggested that we take this brave soul as our ruler, I say that it must surely be thee that asketh this of him!"

Other F.Y.s "Aye!"

Gra. "Fine then; I shall approacheth him now, before this sudden courage leaves my soul!"

Graham walks to Peter 

Gra. "Excuse me, kind sir, but my first year friends and I are astounded by your grace and courage and strength and glory! Please, honour us by saying that you will become our noble leader and ruler!"

Pet. "Seeing as you asked so nicely, I, Peter, shall comply and grant thee thy wish! Consider me, from hence forth, your leader and ruler, by election!"

Gra. "Swell! We shall form a mighty kingdom that _all_, whether Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Gyffindor, shall fear. All will obey the mighty word of Peter, and his Peteonites!"

F.Ys CHEER

Pet. _Aside _"And so begins our reign of terror,

With strength and glory we shall endeavour,

To rule this school of magic true;

With the loyalty of my followers few."


	3. Two: Star Gazing

A/N: Sorry for the late update! I've got no excuse. I'm on holiday, and therefore lethargic and lazy. I can only apologise! Sorry for the delay! Hope that you like the new chapter! I plan to make it reasonably long, to make it up to you all! ;) Sorry again!

Oh, and I still don't own anything!

Chapter Two: Star Gazing

It was well past midnight and, although he wouldn't admit it, Sirius was thinking. It wasn't something that he particularly enjoyed doing, unless it involved creating new pranks. However, it on this occasion it couldn't be helped.

**Why the hell did I get so embarrassed when James suggested that I liked Remus! I'm a lady's man! I can't like men! It's not in my nature. It's not true anyway, so why should I be worrying? **

…

…

…

**Ok, fine, maybe it's a LITTLE true, but insignificantly so! Wow, I just used the word insignificant! **Sirius contemplated waking up Remus and telling him this, but decided that he wouldn't be the happiest of bunnies, and that it could wait till morning anyway. Trying in vain to get some sleep, Sirius turned over.

oOo

_It's just absurd. He's one of the few people who have accepted me as a friend, even after he became aware of my 'problem'. He's one of my best friends. People aren't supposed to develop these sorts of feelings for friends! _Remus thought. Unlike Sirius, he did this quite a lot. Just, not generally about this. _I KNEW I'd regret offering to help him with the play! I'm just like some stupid fangirl, stuck in some stupid, unrealistic fanfic. God, why Sirius? Sure, he's good looking, but I've never thought of him this way before! I've never thought of ANY guy in this way before! Well, not many girls either, but certainly no guys! _Remus coughed quietly, trying not to wake up any of the others._ Ugh, I just- _Remus' thoughts were rudely interrupted by a whisper to his right.

"Hey, Remus, are you awake?"

"…" _Argh! I don't think I can even talk to him right now. I'll just pretend to be asleep._

"I know you're awake, Moony. You can hide nothing from me; I can read minds."

"… I'm not awake." _Just leave me alone… (Dramatic sigh)_

"I'm not that thick, Remus. Why won't you talk to me?"

"Because it's really late, and I'm mad 'cause I can't sleep."

"Me neither. Sucks to be us, eh?"

Remus laughed, quietly.

"Hmmm, Moony?" Sirius sang in a whisper.

Oh no, this can't be good. What's he planning? 

"You know how we, like, both can't sleep?" **Jeez, that sounded really suggestive… get it into your head: Remus is not some fangirl.**

"Um, yes. That is what we have just been discussing."

"Well, I was wondering…" the dark haired boy trailed off.

"Uh, what's that, Padfoot?"

"If you're not too tired…"

"Err, what?"

"Would you mind going over some lines with me?"

Remus almost laughed. "Ok, sure. Hang on, what about this lot? We can't wake them up."

"That's why we're going to sneak off somewhere quiet!"

"It's the middle of the night! If we get caught-"

"You really are prefecty, you know. Lighten up, we won't get caught!"

"Prefecty is NOT a word, and how can you possibly guarantee that we won't get caught anyway? Pride comes before a fall." Remus pulled the covers over his head in an attempt to end the conversation, but Sirius was having none of it

"Because we're Marauders, that's how! Now get out of bed, dammit!" Sirius whispered, whilst trying to wrench the covers off the poor werewolf. Eventually, he won, and a grouchy Remus was following the black haired boy down the corridor to the astronomy tower. They swiftly climbed the stairs and reached the top. Even Sirius, who was normally too wrapped up in his own egotistical world to notice such things, gasped when he stepped up onto the stone plateau. It was a clear night, and due to the lack of pollution around the ancient castle you could see even the faintest of stars, right down to the horizon. The night sky stretched out before them, the pale crescent of the waxing moon suspended above the lake. The mirror-like surface reflected it's perfect shape, and it was so beautiful that it took Sirius a moment to realise why Remus turned away from it so soon, looking faintly sad.

**Full moon in a few days, I forgot.**

Quickly returning to the task at had, Sirius pulled out the script.

"Ok! Where are we up to?" Remus asked.

"The last scene of Act 1! I've learnt all the lines for it, I just need someone to practise with." Remus was pleasantly surprised at Sirius' capacity for learning lines. He'd picked it up very quickly, considering he hadn't known the name of his character before.

"Ah, the scene at the Capulet Party!"

"Woo! Party!" Sirius cried. "Hang on, are there clowns? It didn't mention any, but Dumbledore wouldn't put any in would he?"

"No, don't worry. I'm sure that after that incident in third year he wouldn't do anything as cruel as that."

"Then woo! Party!"

The werewolf shook his head in dismay, before looking up suddenly. "Ok, erm, so you've read the scene all the way through?"

"Well, I learned all my lines, yes. I don't understand most of it, but I get the gist of it! He gatecrashes their party, meets some chick called Juliet, leaves."

"Err, yes, basically… Have you, um, read the stage directions?" Remus was now staring at the floor. A blush crept over his face, so he was glad that the light was dim.

"Those little bits they've put in brackets? Not really; things put in brackets aren't supposed to be read, I don't think."

Remus sighed. "You really need to know them… err, I guess that you'll just have to keep an eye on the script today and we'll, um, meet them as they come."

It was obvious that Sirius had indeed learned his lines; he only slipped up once, and quickly recovered.

"To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

_Oh, God, what the hell am I supposed to do?_ "Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much," _You're kidding yourself; he's not actually going to kiss you! It's just a rehearsal. Now relax, nothing's going to happen._

(A few lines later)

"Thus from my lips by thine my sin is purg'd." _Ah, he's reading the stage direction! Argh! Someone, hide me-_

Remus felt a cold hand touch his cheek, and Sirius leaned towards him. Their lips touched, sending shivers down Remus' spine. Sirius stepped closer, bringing them together and deepening the kiss, before Remus pushed him away.

_I can't let this happen. He's my closest friend, and I can't spoil what we have…_

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Err, um, the brackets told me to kiss you!" Sirius looked at the ground, and stepped away. **Buggerbuggerbugger. I told him that no good came of reading what's in brackets…**

"I didn't think that you'd follow that direction…" Remus also looked at the ground. _It doesn't matter if I enjoyed it, Sirius doesn't feel the same anyway…_

"Well, I did." **Heck, it was worth it! (Mental wink)**

"Really? I didn't notice?"

"Look, I'm sorry, Remus. I didn't think you'd make such a big deal out of this!" **God, I hope I haven't offended him… Why's he so being so touchy about this? **

Remus sighed. "It doesn't matter, you just surprised me…"

"Ok… I'm sorry. We can do something particularly manly in the morning! Let's just go back to the dormitory for now!"

Remus had to laugh; trust Sirius to suggest something like that. "Ok, let's go!"

The two boys walked back and snuck in quietly.

"'Night, Sirius."

"'Night, Moony."

_I'm sorry, Sirius…_

Peter and the Peteonites, Part the Second.

Sorry that I forgot to do this last chapter! Will continue now, although it'll only be short!

_In the dormitory, where Peter is asleep. 6:30 am._

_Enter_ GRAHAM

Graham "Peter, our noble leader, prithee, arise! There is much to be attended to!"

Peter "What is the hour? Why art thou here?"

Gra. "There are urgent issues to attend to! We must formally name you as our leader! There is a ceremony prepared, which must soon take place, yet cannot without our guest of honour! All are assembled in the second floor bathroom, awaiting your fair self!"

Pet. "Fine, fine, I will arise, though my weary body would rather rest here in this warm duvet."

Gra. "Cool! I have fetched the fine robes that you are to wear throughout this grand affair! Here, don them quickly, for we must make haste!"

Pet. _Aside _"Ugh, now I must travel down five flights of stairs in this ridiculous attire! Woe, woe!"

Gra. "Now, let us go hence, nad proclaim thee as our leader!"

_Exeunt _PETER _and_ GRAHAM

In the second floor's lavatory of the female variety. 

Gra. "All rise, for the mighty Pete has arrived! Hail! Peter!"

All. "Hail!"

Pet. _(Walks to throne by the sinks) _"My gallant followers, may glory follow each of you!"

All. (_cheer)_

Gra. _(Approaches Peter with ceramic jug)_ "Accept our blessings, along with the title of our leader!"

Pet. "I accept!"

Gra. _(Empties jug of precious perfume over Peter)_ "I hereby proclaim you ruler over all of us, the Peteonites! You shall be known hence forth, as Uncle Pete!"

All. _(Cheer and bow)_

Pet. "And thus my time is drawing near,

To show this school of mine true fear,

With control of this adoring band,

All shall fear my wrathful hand."


End file.
